Worst customer complaint ever you've ever heard

rawn

Was in a chipper earlier and they were laughing about a phone call they had received the night before from an extremely angry customer who was demanding a refund and screaming "FALSE ADVERTISEMENT!!" at them because she ordered "Small Chips" and received a small bag of regular-sized chips. She was expecting a bag of small-sized chips in a regular bag and was livid, saying that if that's what they were going to serve the should have listed it as "Small bag of Chips". They were roaring laughing about it made me giggle, was trying to think back about stupid customer complaints I've heard over my years in retail but can't think of anything to match it quite yet can anyone top that?

Stavros Murphy

That's nothing, I saw an add for "Cheap Hoes - direct to your home" - sent off my €19.99 and got a bloody rake dropped off by UPS. And they laughed at me when I rang up to complain.

Kiwi in IE

I worked in a pharmacy years ago while in college. Customer brought blusher back for a refund because it 'blew off' her face in the wind.

The Backwards Man

Urban legend (I think) but always make me laugh

In November 2000, Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32 foot Winnebago motor home. On his first trip home, having joined the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the Winnie left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the handbook that he could not actually do this. He was awarded $1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago

micosoft

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Urban legend (I think) but always make me laugh

In November 2000, Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32 foot Winnebago motor home. On his first trip home, having joined the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the Winnie left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the handbook that he could not actually do this. He was awarded $1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago

I think you might find this was a plot element in a very recent film.

Paco Rodriguez

A customer to a call centre had problem with online banking. She was inserting her bank card into the floppy disc drive....but nothing was happening.

mags1962

How about when a customer came back with a chicken that she had bought and cooked, ranting that it was deformed and that all of the chickens must be the same. "It has no breast and is all skin and bone".
She was a bit embarrassed when I turned the chicken over and explained that she had cooked the chicken breast side down and was trying to carve the chickens back. I did replace the chicken for her though and I swear I did not laugh in her face.

rawn

mags1962 wrote: »

How about when a customer came back with a chicken that she had bought and cooked, ranting that it was deformed and that all of the chickens must be the same. "It has no breast and is all skin and bone".
She was a bit embarrassed when I turned the chicken over and explained that she had cooked the chicken breast side down and was trying to carve the chickens back. I did replace the chicken for her though and I swear I did not laugh in her face.

How? :eek:

mags1962

It takes a special skill but I told everyone to relive the moment.

rawn

Oh I worked for a company that provides the photography at graduation ceremonies and also sells frames. I remember hearing one of the new lads being yelled at by one of the parents cos she wanted a portrait frame not a landscape frame! Didn't seem to occur to her (or the new guy) that they can stand up either way A manager was called IIRC but didn't catch that part unfortunately

Fr_Dougal

mags1962 wrote: »

How about when a customer came back with a chicken that she had bought and cooked, ranting that it was deformed and that all of the chickens must be the same. "It has no breast and is all skin and bone".
She was a bit embarrassed when I turned the chicken over and explained that she had cooked the chicken breast side down and was trying to carve the chickens back. I did replace the chicken for her though and I swear I did not laugh in her face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzaNor1XimY

tracey turnblad

Believe it or not the same thing happened me with a cooked chicken.
The bag has a picture on the front. Usually they put the chicken in breast up i.e. Breast under the picture. I bought one brought it home and opened the bag picture side up..seen the most flat chested chicken I ever seen...was getting it bagged back up to go back to the shop when I called my hubby down. He turned the chicken right side up...and walked away shaking his head.... I swear I thought it was a duck they had given me....

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Asked to fit two extra sockets in a woman's house. She pointed out where she wanted them, and said "You can do that, no problem?"

"Yeah I can do that" I answered

"That's great. The last guy wanted to chase holes in my wall, or take up the floorboards"

"Uh, well I will have to do either one of those..."

"But I don't want that.."

I started to explain how electricity isn't like wireless broadband, that I couldn't just mount two sockets on a wall with no cables connected in, and she'd be able to plug in and use them, then I just though feck it, this job won't be worth the hassle!!

fred funk }{

I worked in a hardware shop years ago and one day a fella came in and asked for "fork handles". I got him some and put up on the counter, he then went over to my boss to complain and called me a gib****e. He was looking for "four candles".

Stavros Murphy

fred funk }{ wrote: »

I worked in a hardware shop years ago and one day a fella came in and asked for "fork handles". I got him some and put up on the counter, he then went over to my boss to complain and called me a gib****e. He was looking for "four candles".

That you Ronnie? Love your older stuff.

dodderangler

fred funk }{ wrote: »

I worked in a hardware shop years ago and one day a fella came in and asked for "fork handles". I got him some and put up on the counter, he then went over to my boss to complain and called me a gib****e. He was looking for "four candles".

Yeah that Was funny when the two Ronnie's done it in the 70s.

Overheal

Duracell Bunny wrote: »

Asked to fit two extra sockets in a woman's house. She pointed out where she wanted them, and said "You can do that, no problem?"

"Yeah I can do that" I answered

"That's great. The last guy wanted to chase holes in my wall, or take up the floorboards"

"Uh, well I will have to do either one of those..."

"But I don't want that.."

I started to explain how electricity isn't like wireless broadband, that I couldn't just mount two sockets on a wall with no cables connected in, and she'd be able to plug in and use them, then I just though feck it, this job won't be worth the hassle!!

Oh yeah, I loved those types. "You can install all this for me" Oh of course. "You can do that today?" Yeah well it will take several hours "Oh but I can't wait around" It takes time to do "WELL YOU JUST FCUKING SAID YOU CAN DO IT WHERE IS YOUR MANAGER"

passive

fred funk }{ wrote: »

I worked in a hardware shop years ago and one day a fella came in and asked for "fork handles". I got him some and put up on the counter, he then went over to my boss to complain and called me a gib****e. He was looking for "four candles".

Not sure if serious or referencing famous sketch... Just in case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz2-ukrd2VQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

krudler

A woman who thought it was ridiculous we wouldnt give her a brand new PSP after her kid dropped his down the stairs and broke it, she arrived in with in a million pieces in the box and just said she wanted a replacement, I was like yeah they're 200 quid or whoever much it was "oh would you not oblige me with a new one?" ehhhh...no?

LETHAL LADY

I had a lunatic roaring down the phone at me recently about an imminent gas explosion outside his house and using every expletive he could think of. The sad thing is I don't work for a gas company and he hung up before I could respond.

The Glass Key

I like the (urban legend?) story of the little old lady that complained that as the end biscuits in most of the packs of biscuits she bought were broken the manufacturers should leave them out.

BorneTobyWilde

I bought paint back once, it was so slow to dry and boring to watch. I told him it was like watching paint dry.

krudler

Oh yeah, a guy who rang to ask to speak to the CEO about our hold music, he didn't actually didnt have a complaint other than this and I'm pretty sure he wasn't even a customer, some people are just weird.

rainbowdrop

I work in a call centre, so could probably write a book of retarded complaints I've dealt with. This one I posted i ranting and raving a few months ago stands out in my mind though:

rainbowdrop wrote: »

Aparently my company is getting sued for €165,000, or so an irate customer informed me today. The reason? €165,000 is the amount this lady has just spent on purchasing a house in the absolute ars'ehole of West Cork, and I had the delightful task of telling her that my company cannot provide broadband service to her due to the rural location. I had to google the place, cos I'd never heard of it and it's 4miles from the nearest village (pop. 200), halfway up the side of a mountain. Apparently she will 'lose her job' because she needs high speed broadband to work from home.

Would'nt you think, when she was spending such a large sum of money, that she would have checked availability before signing any contracts to purchase the house if broadband availability was so important? Anyway, apparantly we are impeding her 'civil liberties according to EU law by not supplying her with service' (her words). She'll no doubt be adding an extra 20 grand onto the €165,000 cost of the house she is sueing us for, for traumatic emotional distress or some sh1t..... Fcuk the fcuk off!! Good luck with that one in a courtroom.....

major bill

I sometimes feel that working in IT I am a member of Hitler Youth

When things go right....theres no thanks....when things go wrong you better well get it fixed ye useless **** :pac:

So many incidents I don't know where to start

hucklebuck

A guy rang my boss to complain that I had just hung up on him, boss comes over and said did you just hang up on one of the customers? I said I did and I said I told him I was going to if he didn't stop swearing at me and he swore again so I hung up.

The boss goes back to yer man and said if you swear at any of my staff again you can take your business elsewhere and said I will transfer you back and if you don't apologise to him for swearing I give him permission to hang up on you again. I loved working for him.:D

major bill

krudler wrote: »

Oh yeah, a guy who rang to ask to speak to the CEO about our hold music, he didn't actually didnt have a complaint other than this and I'm pretty sure he wasn't even a customer, some people are just weird.

We had a call logged on our service desk one day giving out about Enya been the on hold music in one of the UK offices.

The way it was logged ye swear the person was doing us a favour letting us know

Yea cheers buddy

Femme_Fatale

Sometimes people troll the Consumer Issues forum with ridiculous and hilarious complaints (e.g. a guy who wanted a refund from a DVD rental because he reckoned the film he rented was crap ) but honestly... they're not that far off the mark. :eek:
Some of the stupidity out there is breath-taking.

dollybird2

I used to work in the Council offices of a large city. I had a customer spend 20 minutes on the phone telling me she is banning the St Patricks Day Parade in the City as the young wans are wandering around wearing nothing and she is doing them a favour saving them from pneumonia on a holy day.

Had a number of complaints during Summer 2013 of no water in the fountains in the City... despite widespread coverage that there was water conservation in place due to the hot weather and arid conditions

weemcd

One that springs to mind is someone who got their delivery earlier than the estimated timeframe and called to complain.

There's genuine problems and then there is what is called being a cúnt, this was delivered quicker than expected which I would consider a positive. But sure that's just me and what would I know about the mind of a crazy person.

I'd probably have 100's of these but I can't remember and can't be arsed trying to remember either.

wil

major bill wrote: »

We had a call logged on our service desk one day giving out about Enya been the on hold music in one of the UK offices.

The way it was logged ye swear the person was doing us a favour letting us know

Yea cheers buddy

Did you get a subsequent visit from IRMO and a bill for unpaid royalties?;)

Ruu

There is a coffee shop next to the library I work, once every fortnight or so, the same fella calls. Same story every time, the person working at the coffee shop short changed him and he wanted a refund. Same response, we can't pass on messages to the coffee shop and even if we could refund, you would still have to come in and collect the refund! :P

Customer comes in looking for a drivers licence renewal form. I inform her we don't do ANYTHING like that. She asks where she can get one. I suggest that the local Garda station might have one, and I'd be surprised if you couldn't download them online. She tells me she doesn't have time for computers. I tell her she could go across the street to the library and they'd probably help her print one out there. She says that won't do, and where else could she get one? I tell her I don't drive myself, and the shop doesn't deal with anything like that, so I really wouldn't know. Then came the complaint:

"Well you really should know things like that if you're not going to have them behind the counter!"

WTF? You're the one with the licence and the car, surely you're the one that should recollect where to pick one up instead of ambling into your local shop and expecting a young non-driver to know??? It's like people feel entitled to get literally ANYTHING they need in their local shop. I've even rung utility providers for customers before (even did it at the stage where I was 21 and I'd never payed a utility bill myself before), because dear lord they couldn't do it themselves.

questionmark?

Once had a bloke call me at work and launch into a rant about another company. I got a good giggle and then said am I think you'll find you've called the wrong number. He then tried to tell me he had the correct number and I was wrong. I assured him I had a good sleep so was fresh and wide awake so I know I came to the right office! Dont know how that bloke got my direct line number? To this day a little bit of me thinks it was phonejacker!

krudler

rainbowdrop wrote: »

I work in a call centre, so could probably write a book of retarded complaints I've dealt with. This one I posted i ranting and raving a few months ago stands out in my mind though:

Something I genuinely don't understand, if you're viewing a house would you not ask first? same with mobiles, you obviously dont buy a house after seeing it just once, would you not think to pull out your phone and check you can actually get coverage in the place? having no phone coverage or only able to get sh1te broadband would put me off living someplace instantly.

A2LUE42

Years ago working in a restaurant.

Some examples.

Customer ranting that they didn't get horseradish sauce on their roast beef and wouldn't allow the waitress to point out that there was a sauce boat of the stuff in front of them. She took it back to the kitchen and got one of the chef's to put it on. Brought it back to table and low and behold the customer didn't bloody like it.

One woman was shouting that she needed proper cutlery
How was she supposed to eat her fish with these things, holding her fork and knife in the air. Waitress replied that if the lady liked she would remove her fish knife and fork and bring her standard ones.

Putting a finger bowl on front of someone, only to be told that they ordered the ribs, not the lemon soup.

Having someone rant about why they didn't have a wine bucket at their table. To have to point out to them that they had red wine and the other table has white.

Complaints that gespacho was cold.

wandatowell

A2LUE42 wrote: »

a sauce boat

Is that what those things are called?

I never knew and always wondered.

Orim

weemcd wrote: »

One that springs to mind is someone who got their delivery earlier than the estimated timeframe and called to complain.

There's genuine problems and then there is what is called being a cúnt, this was delivered quicker than expected which I would consider a positive. But sure that's just me and what would I know about the mind of a crazy person.

I'd probably have 100's of these but I can't remember and can't be arsed trying to remember either.

Without further context, I can see this being a problem if you need to arrange time off or a pick up or whatever based on the estimated delivery time.

I've worked in customer services for a while so I have a few. One of my favourites is the executive in a tech company that believed that software on her laptop would allow her to pick up non existent wifi signals.

There was also the person that would not allow us to replace a damaged product because the replacement wouldn't be the same as the identical product they had. So we offered to just replace the shell but this was also rejected. And all of this was down to their complaint and they had no idea what they actually wanted beyond vague assertions of "fix it" and vague threats of "watchdog will love this"

Dr Robotnik

I spent a summer holiday working in a supermarket. One particular day I was approached by a visibly angry woman. She was annoyed that every time she came to the shop, a certain brand of sausages was sold out. I think it may have been Granby Sausages she was looking for, where perhaps there was only one delivery per week. On the other hand, brands like Denny's and Clonakilty would have been delivered every day.

"MY SON will only eat those sausages. HE doesn't like any other ones."

Fair enough. I told her that I wasn't sure what day they were delivered. I told her I'd pass on her complaint/suggestion/observation on to the manager. I even suggested she have a word with Customer Service who might be able to find out for her exactly when the fabled sausages are delivered.

"WELL THAT'S JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH."

And of she went with her little brat in tow. I have no idea if she ever solved the riddle of the sold-out sausages.

CaliforniaDream

Not exactly a customer complaint but it's one of my favourites.

wandatowell

My parents' home phone number is/was almost identical to the local ESB office here in East Cork. When ever there were power outages or someone had a complaint a high percentage of calls ended up at my parents house bitching and moan about the power. Even when they were told they dialed the wrong number they would still be giving out.

Ken.

think were bad have a look at this American site. Some right doosies in here. www.notalwaysright.com Also there sister site http://notalwaysworking.com/

chrissb8

Someone put their hand behind the counter of a shop where I work to grab a bottle of spirits. Not a robber or anything. A real regular who was just in line and decided to do this and then bring it to the counter to pay for it. Just a complete "I come here loads they know me" attitude. Anyway saw the hand go behind the counter. Didn't know it was his hand as I couldn't see the rest of him. I pipe up what's he doing. I did say oh ok it's fine just I didn't know it was you and I'll serve you in a second when I saw him. He Then proceeds to give me grief how he has been coming to the shop for 10 years and has never been treated like that. Treated like what! That you have a sense of entitlement and you got scolded for a very cardinal well known rule of a shop. Don't put your hand behind the goddamn counter.

DeanAustin

Worked in a call centre for one of the telecoms companies and on one of my very first calls I had a woman from a disadvantaged area call in distress. She had gotten a solicitor's letter over an unpaid telephone bill. She pleaded and begged for what seemed like an age and I couldn't get a word in edgeways.

She then said "I can't believe Eircom are doing this to me". "Aha," says I "this isn't Eircom, I'm very sorry but you have the wrong number."

"Oh I know that," says she. "But your number is a freephone number and I need some legal advice because I can't afford a solicitor."

The fella sitting in training me was on the ground laughing.

Ghost Buster

An woman in my work came back in after a bank holiday weekend looking a bit peaky. She explained that she had been ill over the weekend and attributed the reason to a bottle of wine she had drank on the Friday night. She said it was a year out of date :eek::eek::eek::eek:


And her numb skull son tried to return it and was shocked that they would not refund the cost or replace the bottle.

Montiii

The old urban legend.

Customer calls computer company as her new PC is not working, customer service reps takes her through all the usual tricks but nothing working, screen is constantly blank.

Ask's her to make sure it's plugged in at the back, customer says she can't see, the lights are all off as the electricity has been off for the last few hours.

Link to said story

http://www.snopes.com/humor/business/wordperfect.asp

Dartz

Hottest day of the year last year. Had our contractor out insalling gear. All was well until I get an irate phonecall from the biddy who owned the house he was working in, claiming he'd stolen something from her. Naturally, I'm concerned so I ask what it was. She told me he'd stolen a bottle of tap water - he'd had the nerve to go into her kitchen and fill his water bottle from her tap. So naturally, I deducted the 1cent cost of a bottle of water from her bill, specifically annotating it on the invoice.


Another one. Same guy. I get a phone call from a homeowner to let me know that our contractor's fallen off a roof, has broken his leg and had to get carted away in an ambulance. Not a word of a lie, the next statement out of that woman's mouth was; "And I'm expecting there'll be a discount for the delay this is going to cause in getting the job finished"

I could've murdered her right there.

There's a whole class of customer out there who just doesn't give a ****. They treat plumbers and contractors like they're somehow serfs - like paying someone to do a job for you means you get to treat them like utter ****e for a few hours. They're always over 50, and they're almost invariable female. ****ing old crones.

You can tell what sort of person someone is by watching how they treat a waiter. Or a plumber. Or an electrician. Easily.

I added "Customer must supply tea and biscuits" to our service contract as a joke because of it.

Tzardine

Many moons ago while in school I was working part time in a shop. I was on the customer service desk right at the very back of the store. Conversation went like this.

Me: Hello
Customer : (Places a TV on the desk) Yeah I bought this here a few days ago. Its faulty. The screen is broken. This is a disgrace yadda yadda yadda. Loads of attitude.
Me: Can I see your receipt
Customer: Here you go. Still being an ignorant sh1t.
Me: Yeah. This is TK Maxx. We are a clothes shop. Your receipt is for argos !
Customer said nothing and just turned and walked out.

How I did not burst into tears I still dont know. The guy must have been so annoyed and focused on what he was going to say that he did not notice all the racks of clothes. What a doofus.

rainbowdrop

Dr Robotnik wrote: »

I spent a summer holiday working in a supermarket. One particular day I was approached by a visibly angry woman. She was annoyed that every time she came to the shop, a certain brand of sausages was sold out. I think it may have been Granby Sausages she was looking for, where perhaps there was only one delivery per week. On the other hand, brands like Denny's and Clonakilty would have been delivered every day.

"MY SON will only eat those sausages. HE doesn't like any other ones."

Fair enough. I told her that I wasn't sure what day they were delivered. I told her I'd pass on her complaint/suggestion/observation on to the manager. I even suggested she have a word with Customer Service who might be able to find out for her exactly when the fabled sausages are delivered.

"WELL THAT'S JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH."

And of she went with her little brat in tow. I have no idea if she ever solved the riddle of the sold-out sausages.

Well, it's NOT good enough! If you were any bit dedicated to your job, you would have offered to sh1t the sausages for her......

Truckermal

I worked in a phone shop years ago and one day this dope came in moaning and looking for a refund for his Nokia 5110 when he eventually let me speak and look at the phone all that was wrong the snake game was on level 5 and he could only play level 1..:rolleyes:

I met him some time later on a night out and asked him had he reached level five yet..

Stone Deaf 4evr

I used to work in a nightclub, as such places are wont to do, we used to 'stretch' the legal serving hours by having the bouncers keep an eye out for johnny law.

one night I had put together an order of drinks for a girl, when I got the nod to close the bar immediately. I jumped up and pulled down the shutters, depriving the girl of her drink - she hadn't paid for them, yet proceeded to start beating her fists on the shutters and wailing like a banshee, she made such a scene that the guards came over and asked her what the problem was.